When Mike Meshkati’s family immigrated from Iran in the ‘90s, his parents opened a mom-and-pop wholesale printer named SinaLite in Markham. With no experience in the business but a drive to make life better for their three sons, Meshkati says “they needed to make it work, because they had no other options.”
Having graduated from high school early, Meshkati was available to help his parents here and there, and as challenges arose, Meshkati helped address them. And he was good. Particularly at identifying inefficiencies and implementing processes that helped the business grow. Ultimately, he enrolled in business night school while balancing a full-time position there.
Today, Meshkati is the President of SinaLite, which includes two Markham facilities that jointly cover 100,000 square feet and employ about 200 employees. SinaLite represents one of Canada’s leading wholesale trade printers, focusing on small to medium-size businesses.
That path, however, was not easy. The team had to reinvent themselves in the face of the 2008 financial crisis (about 50 per cent of their business was impacted); the initial obstacles of e-commerce; and of course, the pandemic.
“We went through many challenges to figure out how to keep our website running,” Meshkati explains about their shift in 2008—inspired by conversation with a shoe salesman on a flight. “Actually, the day we launched our website, we didn't receive any orders, and we realized it was because we were hosting it internally and there wasn't enough bandwidth for orders.”
Years later, COVID hit the industry hard. In response, SinaLite upgraded their systems and offered remote work. “It was a pivotal moment to make us realize our direction,” says Meshkati. “Hardship, although it sucks while you're in it, if you survive it, I think it is a blessing.”
Such pivots transformed the company from a local player to a North American provider, now exporting 50 per cent of its business. And now Meshkati aims to become a top player in the U.S., relying on passionate, innovative employees from across the GTA.
“Our main objective right now is to empower our staff…. We're really building a culture over here.”
He says Markham is a great location to attract and retain talent.
“Markham has a great employee pool. You have three highways close to it and where we're situated, there's great public transportation. Staff can commute with TTC if they need to. And now we have the Go train too.”
Meshkati also appreciates the local property taxes, the lower rent, and the support of the Markham Board of Trade as well as the City’s Department of Economic Development, Culture and Entrepreneurship.
“The department always gives us support when we need it. They make introductions…. When we needed to upgrade our power, they worked with us on it, and it happened based on the timelines that they indicated. So when we ask for support, we get it. They're always accessible.”
Meshkati’s parents were also instrumental to the business’s growth. “I know in a lot of family businesses, new ideas get shot down.… One of the benefits we had with my dad and mom is that they were always open to ideas, and as long as we were able to demonstrate that the idea had momentum, they were able to say, "go ahead with it.”
